As the title says, I am looking into purchasing my first Tivo. Something I had wanted to do for a very long time, but I was awaiting the ability to access Comcast Xfinity On Demand, which has finally come to Michigan. This will replace my primary Comcast (Motorola) HD-DVR ( I have 2)

I do have some important questions first, though.

The base model Premiere, as you know, offers 500gb and 75 hours of HD programming. The next model up doubles that, which is about the capacity I want. However, from $137.00-249.00 (Amazon pricing) is a large jump. Is it better to get the more expensive model, or add the Western Digital external drive which bumps storage up even further?

Premiere does not have a modem to begin with, and can just hook to your router/network. Using an external can bring problems and lose recordings if either the internal or external fail. If you are leery of doing an upsize of the internal, just get the larger model. Another alternative is to transfer the recordings to a computer for storage.

The base model Premiere, as you know, offers 500gb and 75 hours of HD programming. The next model up doubles that, which is about the capacity I want. However, from $137.00-249.00 (Amazon pricing) is a large jump. Is it better to get the more expensive model, or add the Western Digital external drive which bumps storage up even further?

Thank you, in advance for any assistance with this. I'm really looking forward to dumping the Comcast box and its idiosyncracies and limited storage.

It's curious that tivo.com and walmart.com don't carry the 150 hour model. I also suggest using the free TiVo Desktop to offload programs. I installed it on a laptop using Win7 that I seldom use. I added a 1TB WD Freeagent USB drive to hold the shows. Transfer rate is about 1/3 of viewing time and you can start playing the stored shows almost at once. Transfer rates vary of course. You will need to factor the cost of the cable card. It might be free.

Premiere does not have a modem to begin with, and can just hook to your router/network. Using an external can bring problems and lose recordings if either the internal or external fail. If you are leery of doing an upsize of the internal, just get the larger model. Another alternative is to transfer the recordings to a computer for storage.

Thanks for the clarification. Does it require a hardwired connection to your router, or will it work wirelessly? Also, I've no real concerns about physically replacing the internal drive with something larger, but is there any issue with formatting the replacement drive?

Thanks for the clarification. Does it require a hardwired connection to your router, or will it work wirelessly? Also, I've no real concerns about physically replacing the internal drive with something larger, but is there any issue with formatting the replacement drive?

John

A wireless dual band adapter is under $90. Or you can get the G for much less. When you attach the external drive the TiVo will detect it and do the work. It mates to the TiVo, so you can't move it a new unit without losing the contents. Also, all new content is stored on the external drive first.

A wireless dual band adapter is under $90. Or you can get the G for much less. When you attach the external drive the TiVo will detect it and do the work. It mates to the TiVo, so you can't move it a new unit without losing the contents. Also, all new content is stored on the external drive first.

New content is not stored on the external first. It's alternated between the 2 drives.

I don't mean one show goes on one and the next goes on the other, I mean each show is divided up over the two drives, so you have to have both drives to have all of the show.

They had to keep the "content providers" from blowing a gasket when they introduced the external drive idea.

As the title says, I am looking into purchasing my first Tivo. Something I had wanted to do for a very long time, but I was awaiting the ability to access Comcast Xfinity On Demand, which has finally come to Michigan. This will replace my primary Comcast (Motorola) HD-DVR ( I have 2)

I do have some important questions first, though.

The base model Premiere, as you know, offers 500gb and 75 hours of HD programming. The next model up doubles that, which is about the capacity I want. However, from $137.00-249.00 (Amazon pricing) is a large jump. Is it better to get the more expensive model, or add the Western Digital external drive which bumps storage up even further?

A wireless dual band adapter is under $90. Or you can get the G for much less. When you attach the external drive the TiVo will detect it and do the work. It mates to the TiVo, so you can't move it a new unit without losing the contents. Also, all new content is stored on the external drive first.

Presumably, he's talking about a Wireless-G adapter as oppsed to Wireless-N. Wireless is not built-in to the TiVo so you will need to use an adapter if you want to connect via wireless. I would urge you to use a wired connection if at all possible. The TiVo Premiere does have built-in Ethernet.

I would also urge you to consider using pyTivo+kmttg as an alternative to TiVo Desktop. A bit more trouble to install and configure but, IMHO, well worth the effort.

If you do not have a wired ethernet connection available, a moca connection using the same coax cable the tv signal arrives on is strongly suggested to any of the wireless options.

This depends on the quality of your wireless connection. Yes, wired is better. I originally used a wireless connection and it worked fine for mine. I made sure the wireless access point was at an optimal location for my TiVo.

I have a TiVo with an external drive and have been extremely lucky with it but others have had problems with it. The drive needs to be on the same UPS as the TiVo because in the case of a power outage you want both to reboot about the same timer. My TiVo HD started rebooting spontaneously so I bought the 2 Terebyte Premier and it holds more programs than my HD plus the eternal drive. I am not transferring programs to my computer though so I cannot compare that option.

Adding an additional 150 hours HD capacity is simple with the WD 1Tb My DVR Expander.
It comes complete w/esata cable. It is available via Best Buy for $99.99. Upgrading the internal drive would void any warranty, adding the exrenal won't.

Adding an additional 150 hours HD capacity is simple with the WD 1Tb My DVR Expander.
It comes complete w/esata cable. It is available via Best Buy for $99.99. Upgrading the internal drive would void any warranty, adding the exrenal won't.

Yes there are +s & -s to either option I have done both (internal upgrades & used external extenders) and I am still use TiVos with both upgrade options. Both work fine and both can have problems. Personally if I were buying a new Premiere I would wait 90 days then do an internal upgrade to 2TB.